The Wonderland Murders (Cozy Craft Mystery Book 1) by Millie Ravensworth

Author:Millie Ravensworth [Ravensworth, Millie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-02-02T16:00:00+00:00

23

As Izzy took her circuitous cycle route to work the following morning, she couldn’t help noticing yet more excitement in Double Street. It wasn’t another death, or at least, she assumed it wasn’t, but it was centred on Roy Cotwin’s house. A man on the ground was having a rather loud and frank conversation with a man up a ladder. The man on the ground was wearing a sharp-looking suit and waving papers in his hand, and looked very much like a solicitor or somesuch. The man up the ladder, who had just started painting the top of the house wall, was Aubrey the painter.

“I’m just doing what I’m told,” Aubrey called down to the man.

“And I’m telling you that you aren’t allowed to do that!” the suited man shouted up at him.

“Then you’ll have to take that up with Mr Dinktrout.”

“Put you’re the one doing the painting!”

Aubrey didn’t disagree, instead applying an extra splodge of paint to the wall as further evidence. The solicitor-type man did a funny little dance of annoyance and stomped off.

Aubrey smiled, not unkindly, shook his head, and then saw Izzy in the road astride her bike.

“Solicitor,” Aubrey explained.

“Ah, thought so.”

“I’ve got something for you,” he said as he made his way down.

“What was that about anyway?” asked Izzy, though she thought she could guess.

Aubrey jerked his thumb at the house. “Mr Dinktrout wanted me to repaint this eyesore. But Roy Cotwin’s probate solicitor objects to us doing anything until the estate is sorted out or something.”

“Sounds like a thorny problem.”

Aubrey shrugged happily. “I just paint things.”

Izzy looked up. Aubrey had only made slight in-roads on the paint job, but she could already see the difference between the two pinks. The existing paint was the pink of a princess dress or a gaudy plastic unicorn. The new pink was much more subtle, almost floral.

“Suffolk pink?” she asked.

“Of course.”

“Do they still make it with cow’s blood?”

“That’s a myth,” said Aubrey. “Put cow’s blood in limewash and it separates out into a horrid mess. I go with the theory that the original colour came from adding burnt clay ochre or brick dust.”

Suffolk pink could be found on houses throughout the county. It added extra colour to the green and brown landscape and it was one of the things that tourists associated with the area.

“Mr Dinktrout eager to correct Roy’s ‘mistake’ then?” said Izzy.

“You can say that again,” replied Aubrey, and then he caught the look in her eye. “Not a thing to wish a man dead over, though.” He dipped into his big overall pocket and pulled out a couple of sheets of paper folded into quarters, which he handed to Izzy. “Quotes for the work on the shop and flat.”

Izzy looked them over. The numbers were just numbers to her. Once you got over a certain amount of money all numbers were equally huge. She’d let Penny take a look at that.

“The workshop. You think you could have it decorated by this Saturday?”

Aubrey laughed. “I’m sorry. I’m chocka.

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